The invention relates generally to the field of digital data processing systems and more particularly to information transfer arrangements in distributed systems.
As digital data processing systems, or computers, have become smaller and less expensive, individual computers are being used by individuals and small groups. To enhance sharing of data, communications among users and economy in connection with resources which may be infrequently used by an individual, computers have been connected into networks, which include, in addition to the computers used directly by the various users, servers which, for example, store large amounts of data which may be accessed, used and updated by a number of users in the system, thereby facilitating sharing of data. Servers may also control printers, telecommunications links, and so forth. In addition, servers may provide specialized computational services, such as database searching and sorting, and so forth. The various computers, which are termed clients, and servers are interconnected by a communications link to permit messages to be transferred among the various computers and servers comprising the distributed system.